Trey Ogden (16-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will look to rebound when he fights Nikolas Motta (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at the UFC event on Nov. 18 in the UFC Apex.
“I think that he’s definitely the most basic opponent I’ve fought in a long time,” Ogden told MMASucka. “I definitely see myself finishing him, likely in the first round.”
Ogden secured a significant upset over Daniel Zellhuber for his first UFC win and will look to get back into the winner’s circle after a decision loss to Ignacio Bahamondes. Motta’s UFC win over Cameron VanCamp is sandwiched between losses to Jim Miller and Manuel Torres.
Motta has yet to secure a submission win in his professional career. “Samurai Ghost” feels he holds a “massive edge” in the grappling department.
“I know people who have trained with him who have also trained with me, so I objectively know that I’m very far past him in that area,” Ogden said. “No one has tested his grappling, because they keep knocking him out, so it doesn’t seem necessary, you know what I mean?”
Nine of Motta’s 13 wins have come via T/KO, but so have four of his five losses.
While Ogden is still looking for his first victory via T/KO, he secured a lot of club and sub stoppages early in his career. He could see himself finishing Motta through either method.
“I should always be trying to take it to where I have the highest tactical advantage, and that is my plan,” Ogden said. “But there are a lot of ways to die en route to that. It just depends on that. I’m prepared to knock [Motta] out. I have several shots that I think I can land to knock him out. A lot of it’s going to depend on how he’s reacting to me. If he gets over-aggressive with me, I’ll knock him out for sure. I’m a very sharp counter-striker. I do carry surprising power. Usually, when I hit people, they’re very surprised. And he’s very chinny. An example of that is when I fought T.J. Brown, and I dropped T.J. Brown with a jab and then jumped on him and submitted him.”
Ogden said he can’t say how the finish will come, because it depends on how Motta reacts when the two lightweights are in the Octagon.
“I’m well prepared to take him out any way necessary,” he said.
While Ogden is looking to advance his own MMA career, three of his students at Marathon MMA won their latest UFC contests: Garrett Armfield, Miles Johns and Mike Breeden. Ogden said he is “really proud” of his trio.
“They’re representing the work we’re doing at Marathon MMA very well. Those are my first three times coaching as a head coach in the UFC. I have been building a younger fight team for the last three or four years and tearing it up all over the Midwest regional scene. I have an opportunity now to start coaching in the UFC. All three of them have done so well. All three of them are coming off wins. Two of them, amazing knockouts, and Miles Johns had an awesome fight with Dan Argueta. So I’m really proud of the work we’re doing right now.”
Armfield knocked out Toshiomi Kazama and has a fight coming up against Brad Katona in January. Breeden KO’d Anshul Jubli at UFC 294 on Saturday.
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